A Love of Snow
by Haneoka
Summary: Hatori and Mayu were going to live happily ever after. But, tragically, Mayu is killed. When Kana, also a widow, reappears in Hatori's life, can they find a new beginning? [Takes place years after the end of the manga.]
1. Chapter 1

"Hatori."

Hatori didn't look up. He knew that voice. For so many years he had longed to hear it. But then he had locked that desire away, and quietly picked up the pieces of his life and moved on.

"Kana…" he said quietly, still staring at the ground. He who had always held himself tall and proud, was now sitting at the bench at the cemetery, slumped over, drained of energy…eyes fixed firmly on the rocks and pebbles and grass, as if they held the answers to all the questions in the head. 

She was the last one left. The Sohma clan had been hovering, but Tohru, ever perceptive, had quietly pulled the last ones away to leave Hatori alone.

But he wasn't alone. Now he was with Kana. For the first time in years.

Kana didn't say anything else. She didn't offer words of sympathy, like so many others at the funeral already had, from people whom Hatori knew loved him but whose condolences fell on deaf ears.

Strange, Hatori knew that of all the people at the funeral, any words of condolence from Kana would be from the heart. But she didn't offer any.

Hatori half expected her to tell him one of her cute sayings. Kana had a knack for that, he remembered, for being the eternal optimist. That was what he had loved about her.

Once loved, he corrected himself. That was a long time ago, he thought.

Kana sat down next to him on the bench, and he felt his world shift. He could sense her presence. He could hear her breathe.

He continued to stare at the ground.

And Kana began to talk. "I'm so sorry I was unable to go to your wedding," she said in a normal tone of voice, as if she was just an old friend that he hadn't seen in a long time. "At the time, I was out of the country."

Hatori did know, in fact. He and Mayu had unconsciously, or perhaps consciously, planned it that way.

"I missed Mayu-chan so much. And I missed seeing you. But I am happy that you both found happiness together. That two such good people, two such wonderful people found each other." Kana's voice was filled with emotion, and genuine warmth. Hatori felt a little ray of it enter the core of his heart, and for one moment he basked in it.

Then reality intruded, and he remembered where he was and why he was there. He looked up, straight ahead. He knew Kana was looking at him but he couldn't bear to look at her. He was afraid of what would happen if he did.

"Thank you, Kana," he said quietly. Try as he might to make himself sound cold and formal, in Kana's presence he could not do so. "Thank you."

Kana stood up. In the corner of his eye he could see the folds of her black skirt, her hand calmly at her side. He had still not looked her in the eye.

Kana quietly said, "My husband died two years ago in a car accident." Hatori said nothing. He had known that already. She continued, "I was in the car when he was driving." Hatori still said nothing. Without a tremor in her voice, she said, "I lost our baby because of the accident."

And with that, Hatori looked up at her, and was shocked at what he saw.


	2. Chapter 2

Kana was old.

This wasn't the first time he had seen her since their love affair had ended. But it was the first time he had seen such a dramatic change in her face.

It wasn't so much a change in her hair, which had only gained perhaps a few strands of gray. And it wasn't a change in her face, though her face no longer had the freshness of youth.

The change was in her eyes.

Her eyes held sadness, but wisdom too. The kind that comes with age.

He had never seen such a look in her eyes. He had seen those eyes when they were smiling at him. He had seen them with a sparkle, with a twinkle. He had seen them filled with desperation and a sadness so overwhelming you could drown.

But he had never seen such gravity, such weight, in her eyes until that very moment.

It was a look that showed its owner carried a burden, yet they also expressed resolve. Steel. Strength.

Here is a woman who has suffered, he thought. And survived.

'All these years I had thought she would never change…in my eyes, she would remain eternally young and happy. After she left me, I knew she would find happiness elsewhere. Her wedding wasn't a surprise to me. And even when I knew her husband had died and she was left a widow…I don't know why, and I did not know how she would recover, but I knew she would. As long as I wasn't a part of her life, I knew she would be okay. And it was true. I later heard she was doing okay. And I was glad.'

* * *

When Kana's husband had died, Hatori and Mayu had attended the funeral. Hatori had only exchanged polite formalities with Kana, while Mayu had embraced Kana for a long moment and they had a quiet conversation.

Hatori had tried to avoid meeting Kana's eyes. He told himself he didn't want to risk bringing back her memories of him. But really, it was because he did not want to risk losing himself in her eyes once again. Not with Mayu at his side. Mayu, who had waited so long for him.

But, there had been a moment, when he and Mayu were leaving, that he had inadvertently turned back and his eyes met Kana's. For one moment, time seemed to be suspended. Mayu disappeared. The voices were silenced.

And in that moment, Hatori's eyes somehow told Kana, 'I'm sorry. I hope you will find happiness one day.'

He had made that wish to her once already, years before. It had come true. Surely, the same wish made by him, for her, would come true again.

And Kana's eyes told Hatori, 'Thank you.'

It was a moment that shouldn't have happened. Hatori had felt guilty as he turned and walked away with Mayu at his side.

It had been such an intimate moment…strangely intimate, because Hatori knew Kana didn't remember their time together. To her, he was a distant relative and former employer.

But in that moment of shared pain and empathy, it was as if their tortured, secret history together had been revealed and laid out in the distance between them, for all to see.

And then the moment had ended, their history swept away and hidden back within the recesses of Kana's subconscious, while Hatori forced himself to forget.

When he and Mayu had left, Hatori knew, though Kana was not okay at that moment…that one day, she would be. He had not seen in her eyes the kind of despair that had haunted her towards the end of their relationship.

He hadn't known how to feel, he hadn't known how to understand why Kana could grieve for her husband and yet show signs that she was far more resilient than he had ever known.

Why had Kana's grief for him, Hatori, been so deep that he had to take back her memories of their falling in love for her to continue living?

Hatori hadn't known whether to feel a little happy that what they had had was so special, a little sad that they had lost it all, or a little bitter that he still hadn't gotten over it.

So he had told himself to let it go, and had walked away with Mayu.

* * *

As Hatori reflected, Kana's expression didn't change as she looked down on him. She wasn't smiling but her expression was calm, peaceful. Soothing.

"I've learned what suffering is," she said, as she now turned and looked into the distance.

Hatori asked, "So, you are a survivor now, Kana?"

Kana said, as she stared, "You see me here today, don't you? But if what you are really asking is if I have learned to live again, then…well, I am not the same person I was several years ago. I think you see it in my eyes."

She paused. "But I would not want to go back to that person either. The younger, happier, foolish version of me."

"Foolish?"

"Yes, foolish. I was naive. I took my happiness for granted. I thought life would always be wonderful. I had everything I wanted, everything I needed. I…I had never felt loss before." She paused.

Hatori didn't blink.

Kana continued, "So when the drunk driver killed my husband and took away my baby, all I could wonder was why he didn't kill me too. All I could think about, was why me?"

Kana looked away so Hatori could only see the side of her face. "I could only feel sorry for myself instead of being grateful for what I did have."

Hatori asked softly, "You were always the optimist, Kana. Did you lose that?"

She laughed, a short, brittle laughter. "I don't know if I lost it so much as it was taken away from me…" she trailed off. "Every day, it hurt to wake up. I would start to cry every morning. I cried so I would not have to think.

"And then, one night, I had fallen asleep in the living room. I woke up and I opened my eyes and saw that it was snowing. And I was instantly happy. I had always felt joy when I saw the snow falling. I could not stop myself from feeling that way once again. And then in the very next moment, I was sad, and angry at myself, because I had forgotten my grief for my family in my love of the snow."

"And I thought to myself, what kind of a person am I?" Kana trailed off, her voice trembling, before she regained her composure. "And I realized, I am a person who loved my husband, and loved my baby, and I am a person who loves life. And I did not want to turn into someone so bitter, so angry, and so sad that I could no longer take any joy in the things and people I loved. I had to stop crying so I could cherish my happy memories…the happy times that I had with my husband."

"And I remembered you…at the funeral…I remember you wishing for my happiness…and that comforted me. You looked at me like you hoped, like you believed, that I would be okay one day again." Hatori didn't say anything.

Kana smiled slightly, and the slightest bit of self-mockery tinged her voice. "I did not want to disappoint you, Hatori, by giving in to my despair."

"So I learned to live again, and carry my sadness with me. I will never let it go. But I have learned to survive with it." Kana's voice became a shade lighter. "Have I ever thanked you, Hatori, for your words to me? I don't feel guilty anymore when it snows…when something makes me smile…if it's something that I love, I don't feel sad over feeling that way anymore…"

She turned to Hatori and turned the full power of her beautiful eyes on him. He was always vulnerable to the power of those eyes – the kindness, the gentleness.

"I know everyone thinks you are strong. I know everyone expects you to be just fine. But I know you're hurting. I know that you have all this sadness inside of you. I don't know how I know. You should be like a stranger to me, but you're not." She looked at him, and Hatori felt as if she was looking into his soul. "I know."

Hatori had a sense of de ja vu…years ago, Kana had spelled out how he had felt exactly. Afraid to touch her. Afraid to embrace her. Afraid to love her. And here she was doing it all over again.

"If my weakness was that I could not stop crying, I think you don't know how to start." She leaned over, picked up his hand, and held it for a moment. One long moment in which the warmth from her hand spread to his. "I've wept for my husband and my baby. Today I wept for Mayu. Hatori…it's okay for you to weep too."

Hatori held her hand, leaned over it. Kana sat back down on the bench, and she held him while he wept.


	3. Chapter 3

A month had passed since Mayu's funeral.

Hatori was working regularly again.

Hatori hadn't seen Kana since the funeral, but that was okay with him.

Nowadays, he spent much of his time, alone, in his office, working, doing research. He avoided the younger Sohma family members, because he did not wish to kill their enjoyment of life.

Though most everyone, except Shigure, was giving him a wide berth nowadays, Hatori did not think the way he chose to grieve was unusual or excessive. He had always been solitary, not simply because of the curse, but because it was part of his nature.

Shigure, smartly and perceptively as he could be on occasion, came over to keep Hatori company, but was unusually quiet when he did so. And Hatori was grateful…especially since he knew Shigure wouldn't shut up forever.

Hatori was grieving, but he was also recovering.

His grief for Mayu was different than from when his relationship with Kana had ended. That had been traumatic for so many reasons, because of his guilt, because of her depression, her illness. Because he had had to erase her memories and watch her walk away without remember everything they had been together.

Compared to that, his grief for Mayu was simple. He had loved her, and he mourned her loss. But it was not as complex or as wretched as the torment that he had gone through after Kana.

He was sad for Mayu's sake that her life had ended so abruptly, because Mayu deserved to live. Mayu was a good person. Mayu should have lived.

He grieved for Mayu. But he did not grieve as much for himself, or for the future that had been lost to them.

Maybe because his world had been okay before he realized she was in it. Boring, maybe. Solitary. It hadn't been a happy existence. But it hadn't been a sad one either.

And now that she was gone, his world hadn't collapsed…it had simply gone back to what it was before, that strange, in-between existence of non-happiness, non-sadness, without grief for the past and without hope for the future. 

He tried to make himself feel guilty for not feeling as hopeless about the future after Mayu had died, as he had felt after Kana had left.

But he had to admit that losing Kana had been so hard because he thought she was the only one who could ever love him.

Losing Mayu did not leave him with that feeling.

Especially since Kana was still alive.

Hatori stomped all such thoughts out of his head and went back to work.


	4. Chapter 4

A Love of Snow

Chapter 4

A Fruits Basket fanfic by Haneoka

* * *

"You know what they say about love," Shigure said, idly flipping through the newspaper in the midsummer heat.

Hatori, without looking up from his work, remarked, "I don't know want to know what you have to say about love. In fact, I don't want to know what you think at all."

"Hatori, so cruel." But it wasn't Shigure acting hurt, it was Kana speaking.

Hatori leapt up from his chair.

"Kana!"

Shigure continued quietly, though no one was looking at him, "It's better to have loved and lost then to have never loved at all. No?"

No one was listening. Shigure watched for a moment, and then discreetly left Hatori's office.

Kana and Hatori looked at each other for a long moment without speaking. Finally, they tried to speak at the same time.

"How are you—"

"How have you—"

They laughed awkwardly and stopped.

Hatori waited, thinking it best if Kana spoke first.

"I heard that you were looking to expand your practice. I was thinking of moving back to this area. Do you think that maybe you and I could work together again, this time not as doctor and assistant, but as colleagues?" Her enthusiasm was clear, but her eyes were serious.

Kana had a smile on her face, but it was a cautious one.

Hatori smiled back.

Somehow, after so many years, they had found themselves at the beginning again.

Somehow, it was inevitable.

Hatori responded calmly, though his heart was beating wildly. "That seems like a good idea."

* * *

As if by silent agreement, neither mentioned the two biggest events in their lives that had brought them to that point – the death of their significant others.

Not that they could avoid it completely. There was a picture of Hatori and Mayu on the corner of Hatori's desk. Kana's wedding ring was threaded on her necklace.

But for the most part, they simply worked together, efficiently but comfortably so. They quickly settled into a normal routine.

There were things that were different this time around. Before, when Kana had been an assistant, she had been studying much of the time. Now, however, she was actively researching, checking patients – mostly members of the Sohma family.

But the change that Hatori noticed the most was this time, Kana never showed more than a polite interest in him.

Back then, Kana had smiled at him with adoration and admiration clear in her eyes.

Now, she smiled at him mostly with respect and a friendly affection, with a deeper emotion perhaps lurking in her eyes, but it was so fleeting that Hatori could never quite identify what it really was.

It was almost similar to their last days together, after he had erased her memories and before she had left. Polite, restrained. Though they were both acting like everything was fine…underneath the surface, it was not.

Things had gone on thus for a number of weeks…until one day, Kana had left early, and Hatori was left unable to work, staring at the inanimate objects in his office, thinking that he had as much life in him as his desk chair, with no plans for the evening and no one to spend it with.

'Is this really how I want to spend the rest of my life?' he asked himself. 'Is this really what I want?'

The answer was, obviously, no.

Hatori, turning around in his chair, caught the picture of himself and Mayu on the corner of his desk. He leaned over and picked it up.

He looked at the picture of them from happier days. The grief had settled quietly in his heart, no longer quite as sharp and piercing as it had been before.

'How many years did Mayu and I waste, because she did not know how to tell me her feelings? Because I was unaware, and had no interest in life?'

'If there's one thing that I learned from Mayu…and one thing that I learned from Kana…is that you have to learn how to move on.'

Hatori had spent much of his life simply doing what others had told him. When he was ordered to erase the memories of people dear to the hearts of the Sohma family members, he did it.

When Kana first pursued him with single-minded adoration, he returned her feelings. When Shigure nudged him towards Mayu, and he realized that Mayu was interested in him, he obliged her by taking her out on a date.

Only later did he realize that she had cared for him for years.

When he thought about it, there wasn't much that he had initiated on his own. Everything he had done in life was in part a reaction to what others did first. Not because he had thought of it first.

Would he have fallen in love with Kana if she hadn't been so affectionate from the beginning? Maybe…or maybe he would have told himself it was impossible, and refrained from getting to know her any better.

Kana had been the first to break through his icy veneer. Deep down he had wanted her to, but there was no doubt that she had made the first move.

Would he have ended up with Mayu if it hadn't been for Shigure? If he hadn't suspected that she was already interested in him? The answer to that question was far sketchier.

'The past is past,' Hatori told himself. 'It doesn't matter.'

But it did matter in the sense that Hatori had lived his whole life _reacting_, not _acting_. Now, he was tired of waiting for someone else to make the first move. If Kana wasn't going to show any signs of interest in him…well, that left him with only one choice.

He would have to make the first move.

So, Hatori, once the hunted, became the hunter.


	5. Chapter 5

A Love of Snow

Chapter 5

A Fruits Basket fanfic by Haneoka

* * *

The first thing Kana noticed the next day when she walked in was that Hatori wasn't there. 

The second thing she noticed was that the picture of Hatori and Mayu, that usually sat on the corner of his desk, was no longer there.

In its place was another picture. Of her.

She quickly reached over and with shaking hands, she held the picture and looked at it.

It was more than a few years old, and the picture had faded slightly. But it was her. Smiling.

'Is this a sign from Hatori?' she asked herself. 'What does it mean?'

Her free hand went towards her neck, which was bare. That morning, she had looked at herself in the mirror, and decided that today she wasn't going to wear her necklace. She had taken it off, and tucked away her wedding ring in a safe place.

And then she had walked into work that morning, feeling free and happier than she had in a long time. She had told herself that she wasn't sending Hatori a message. She had simply taken it off because she was ready to move on.

But was Hatori sending a message to her? And what were the odds that they would be sending each other a message at the same time?

Coincidence, or fate, she asked herself?

'It doesn't matter which it is…no matter what, I am going to look to the future.'

Hatori chose to walk in at that moment, with two mugs of steaming tea. Years ago, Kana had always been the one to bring the tea to him. It had been one of the thoughtful things she had done in order to quietly tell him that she liked him.

Now it was his turn to bring it to her.

No one could accuse Hatori of not being subtle.

* * *

After that first morning, when Kana realized Hatori had put away the picture of him and Mayu, and Hatori had realized that Kana had stopped wearing her wedding ring around her neck, everything that happened was like a dream.

Or better than a dream, because they each savored every single waking moment, knowing how dear it was.

Kana opened up her desk drawer, searching for a pen, and found a little gift-wrapped box. Chocolates!

She giggled out loud, then stopped, surprised at herself. Then she laughed again at how silly she was being.

'Chocolates from Hatori!' she thought. 'Truly…I am lucky.' Though she had worked up enough nerve to go back into Hatori's life, she had lost her courage from there on out, unable to make the first move.

'I…won't let this chance escape. Not this time.'

* * *

Hatori took Kana out to dinner. And to a movie. And to a concert. And to an amusement park. And to a picnic.

They had never really formally dated before, as it happened so quickly, and they had been so happy working together, that they hadn't gone out to many places.

Now, they made up for lost time. The polite, reserved expression on Kana's face melted away. And all of a sudden Hatori could look into Kana's eyes, and see the deep, strong emotion shining out of them. For him.

Sometimes, it took his breath away. But he knew his feelings were in his eyes, the same way.

Yet, for all that, all the time they spent with each other, talking, laughing, they hadn't gotten farther than holding hands.

Until one night, they were sitting on a hilltop, overlooking the bright lights of the city, and looking up at the stars.

And as they held hands, Kana, not looking at Hatori, quietly asked, "Did you know that when I left, I left loving you?"

Hatori was shocked. Hadn't he erased all those memories?

Kana answered his silent question. "When we finally met, I was already half in love with you. I had admired you for so long. And I still has those feelings when I left. When I left, I thought it was futile. I told myself I would bury those feelings away."

Hatori thought…'Of course…if she had cared for me before we had met…then if I erased her memories of only our falling in love…she would still have some of those feelings when she left.'

Kana continued. "I…I met someone else. He was a good man. He made me laugh. I loved him. But there was a part of my heart he could never have, a part of my heart he didn't know about. That was the part of my heart I gave to you."

It seemed that the only thing to say to that – or rather, do – was to kiss her. So Hatori did.

They were like two high school students, kissing awkwardly, his hands on her shoulders, hers on his arms, not quite embracing, not close enough but not daring to get closer.

And that's how it ended that night…for two people learning how to love all over again, it was much like going back to those days of adolescence and insecurity and uncertainty.

He didn't embrace her, and she didn't embrace him. Though years before, Hatori had been the one afraid to embrace her, this time Kana was the one who feared embracing him.

Was she unconsciously afraid of embracing him? Did she remember, subconsciously, about the curse? About the dangers of loving him?

Hatori was afraid, and he could see that Kana was afraid of something too. He could feel that she was holding back too. Or otherwise why wouldn't she move to embrace him?

Hatori was afraid to embrace her, not because he was afraid that the curse would rear its ugly head again. The curse had ended. But their first embrace years ago had been so memorable. To embrace her again might jog her memory of it, and of the eventful times that had followed. Most importantly, her depression. And like a stack of dominoes falling, what would happen if she remembered everything?

* * *

As it turns out, fate solved Hatori's dilemma. One night, Hatori was walking Kana back to her apartment. A late-night jogger was running by.

Suddenly, the jogger – a female – tripped and crashed into Hatori, body to body, arms flailing. Exactly the kind of situation that would have turned him into a tiny little seahorse, if the curse was still alive.

"I'm so sorry!" she blurted out, as she tried to disentangle herself.

"It's okay, it's okay," Hatori said to the embarrassed woman and set her on her way. Then he straightened himself and turned to look at Kana.

And saw that she was in complete shock.


	6. Chapter 6

A Love of Snow

Chapter 6

A Fruits Basket fanfic by Haneoka

* * *

Hatori was disoriented. He couldn't think. Why was Kana shocked?

And then he remembered, Kana and I, we couldn't embrace because of the curse.

So Kana must be shocked because she didn't know the curse had been broken.

'But she can't possibly know about the curse, or that it had been broken, because I definitely erased her memories of the curse…and of when we fell in love…'

But quite obviously she did remember the curse. It was written on her face, the way she had reacted. And if she remembered the curse, then that meant…

She held her hands to her face. "Yes, I remember everything."

"The curse has been broken," Hatori blurted out, trying to reassure her.

"I don't care!" Kana cried out.

Hatori was bewildered. "What do you mean?"

"It's not about the curse…it never was. It's about _us_, Hatori. I remember _us_." She took in a deep breath. "I didn't know the curse had been broken, but that wasn't what was most important. I didn't know how to tell you that I had remembered…everything."

"_Everything_?" Hatori repeated incredulously, feeling incapable of an original thought.

"Hatori… I remember. Us falling in love. The curse. Your eye." She touched the scar on his face gently. "My sadness." She looked at him. "I remember you erasing my memories, trying to save me. I remember you saying goodbye, as if we were strangers."

"How long have you known?" Hatori asked, feeling numb.

"A few months after my husband died, I remembered everything."

He couldn't bear to look at her, a familiar feeling. But after one long, drawn-out moment, he finally did.

What he saw amazed him.

No hate. No anger. Maybe a hint of sadness, yes. But not a tragic sadness. Her eyes were brimming with tears and a powerful emotion.

"Do you remember…that I told you…after the death of my husband, I was able to live life again when I saw the snow falling…and realized that I had to let myself love what I love…that was true." Kana took a deep breath. "But it was also in the moment that I saw the snow falling, and I smiled, and all of a sudden I remembered. That's when I _knew_."

"I remembered the snow falling. And I remembered turning to you, and you turning to look at me, and you…your handsome face. Smiling back at me."

"That was the beginning. Of when we met. That was the beginning of when we fell in love." Kana's voice cracked, and before Hatori knew what he was doing, he was holding her tightly.

But what he feared most – Kana breaking down, Kana dissolving into an unending torrent of tears – didn't happen.

Tears slid quietly down Kana's face as she embraced the comfort of Hatori's arms.

"Hatori…You don't have to pretend anymore. You don't have to carry everything all by yourself."

Hatori closed his eyes, wondering how it was that Kana had ended up in his arms again, after so many years. So much had changed, and yet so little. Once again, she was crying, thinking only of him.

"I remembered you…wishing for my happiness. Not once, but twice. The first time was when you had to erase my memories. I remember you saying that you hoped I would someday meet someone who could make me happy. The second time was at my husband's funeral. You wished that one day I would be happy again.

"Those words felt so familiar. They felt so true. But how could a stranger's words mean so much? It was because you were no stranger. That's what eventually made my memories return. Hatori, you were always wishing for my happiness, even if that left you all alone to bear your pain by yourself.

"That day, when I looked out at the snow, I thought of you…my husband…my child. And the overwhelming sadness that I carried since the death of my loved ones…it didn't feel quite as overwhelming anymore. Because worse than losing them would be to never remember their presence in my life. Because they were real. My love for them was real. And to forget them, to forget them, my love for them because I could not bear the sadness of losing them…I could not do that. What I said to you before was true…I did not want to disappoint you, by giving in to my despair…again." Kana shook her head slightly at the remembrance of her past self.

"I knew then that I wanted to be strong enough to remember them." Kana's tears of regret fell. "Because I remembered that once I had not been strong enough to remember you." Kana took a deep breath. "After you took our memories of our time together away, I carried an emptiness inside of me for all these years. That absence was worse than the grief that I had felt over your accident, Hatori. Because I never could quite understand why I felt it. I felt I had lost something precious. That something precious was our memories of us together."

Kana paused, and said very quietly. "It is so strange that I had to lose those so precious to me to get those precious memories back."

Hatori said quietly, "Can you ever forgive me?"

Kana shook her head violently. "_Forgiveness_?" Kana showed more anger than Hatori had ever seen her express. "There's nothing for me to forgive. You didn't know how else to help me."

Kana quietly said, her musical voice calm, "I don't want to weep tears for all the reasons why you and I spent these past years apart. You know, I…I cannot regret that I have had years of happiness with my husband. And, I was truly happy that you and Mayu found happiness together."

Hatori said, "I know. I know," he said again, holding her close, breathing in her closeness, her presence.

There was nothing more that needed to be said. There were no more promises that had to be made. No discussion of their future had to take place.

There were just a few things that they knew already. They no longer had to remember the past with regret or sadness. They could hold the memories of their loved ones in their hearts forever. And that they could go forward, hand in hand, to live their lives together, as they had once dreamed of years ago.

Kana smiled, shaking her head at him. "Hatori, you erased my memories of our falling in love. But, you could not truly erase the feelings in my heart."

Hatori said, "I thought I knew everything about you. As it turns out, I am happy that I was wrong."

"I'll have to get used to being in your arms," Kana said with a laugh, as Hatori hugged her close, held onto her tighter. "I'm so happy that the curse has been broken. But, you know, I would have been happy with you anyway, curse or no."

Hatori did know.

Kana looked to the sky, eyes bright, and she shone with happiness, just as Hatori had first seen her, really seen her. "Look! It's snowing!"

Kana looked at Hatori, who smiled back. Hatori said, maybe with a bit of a superior air, "I know what you're thinking. I remember. You don't have to tell me. Snow will always become the spring."

Kana giggled, a girlish laugh that suited her, woman that she was. "Wrong!" she shouted. "I was thinking, how much I love the sight of the first snowfall. It's the sight I love more than anything else in the world."

Hatori, surprised, said, "Really? I thought you loved spring the best."

"I loved spring the best when I was a girl. But when I grew up, there was nothing I loved more than to be surprised by the falling snow."

She took a deep breath. "Because we met on the day when snow first began to fall…and ever since that day, I looked up at the snow, and loved it for being what it was. I always wished that I could have that feeling forever, of being surprised when the snow begins to fall. I always wished that we could have that day forever."

Hatori shook his head slowly. Kana would never cease to surprise him, he thought. And he was grateful for it. "We'll have many more days like that, Kana, for the rest of our lives."

_Papa? Mama! Look! It's snowing!_

_Do you know why your mother loves snow?_

_Because it's cold?_

_Because it was snowing on the day that we first met…and from the snow always comes the spring._

_From our first sadness came our final happiness._

* * *

Author's Notes:

I hope everyone liked my little fanfic.

Nothing against Mayu, but I just love Hatori and Kana together. And, seeing as Fruits Basket is at times just a string of tragedies (look at Tohru's parents both dying), I can totally see Kana's husband getting killed and then Mayu dying in some unspecified accident.

This fic is partially consistent with the manga storyline. Kana did admit in the manga, after she left Hatori with her memories erased, that she would have to bury her secret love for him forever (she had always been in love with him, which Hatori didn't know, so he couldn't erase those memories).

I used to write a lot more fan fiction back in the day, but I stopped for many years (college, work, life, and all that). However, I really do appreciate your reviews and comments. They really encouraged me. Thanks for reading and I hope to continue writing (what I'm not exactly sure), so see you next time!


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